2016 calendars are now in the 50% off bins; a sure sign that 2015 is so last week. Poor old twenty-fifteen has been tossed out quicker than a toddler’s pair of underwear on an unsuccessful toilet training day.
Black pudding has busted out of the stalls as the superfood for the coming year, Miley Cyrus looks set to become our adopted Aussie after being seen ON. OUR. SOIL. with one of the Hemsworth brothers (I knew I should have learnt how to twerk) and the world can’t decide if flirting with a sports reporter is hot or not.

I however am still reflectively stuck in ’15. It was a pretty good year all-in-all. Here’s what came my way.

In twenty-fifteen I refined my definition of fitness. Having been in and around the fitness industry for 15 years or so, I feel like I’ve experienced a lot. I’ve been the gym junkie, the group-fitness groupie, the hard core workouterer, the event-addict, the yogi and even a bit of the lazy. Fitness means different things to different people. I’m pretty settled that my interpretation of fitness is: to feel well. Physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and socially – feel well. Feel balanced. Feel at peace with yourself. I’ll be bringing a whole lot of that attitude to 2016 with me.

In twenty-fifteen I found out that chronic pain sucks. I’ve been fortunate enough to skim through my 36 years of life without a broken bone or any major physical setbacks. But in 2015, I got a taste of what it feels like to have chronic pain. It’s depressing. It’s annoying. It’s encompassing. It has the capacity to suck out all of your enthusiasm and zest for life. But at the same time it has taught me to slow on down. Take a breath. Realign goals. It’s going to be ok. My own personal goal for the coming year includes a hell of a lot of stretching, gentle strengthening and back-to-basics movement.

In twenty-fifteen I learnt a whole lot about headspace and change and wellness and psychology and communication and people. Rewind about 19 years and I was in my last year of secondary school aiming to get a reasonably decent score. Psychology was one of my strongest and most favourite subjects. If I could have somehow time travelled my now adult head onto those naïve shoulders, I just may have gone on to study it further. The universe maybe had other plans and through a few uninteresting twists and turns I ended up in fitness. Not a bad route though, because this year I have combined my love of the two. Stacks of reading on nutrition psychology, change psychology and some enthralling studies in wellness coaching has made my world go BOOM! In 2016 I am going to bung on a whole lot more about the mental and emotional side of making health-related changes.

In twenty-fifteen I found out that I am right where I am meant to be. Professionally, I was tested a few times last year. I found myself at a couple of cross-roads where I really had to evaluate my career. However, every option I considered, every thought I had, brought me back to the health and fitness space. It really cemented that this is what I love doing. I am exactly where I am meant to be.

So, there you have it. 2015. Done. Dusted. Time to hang that 2016 calendar on the toilet wall, cook up some black-pudding (is there a vegetarian option?), pop on some “Blurred lines” and practice my twerking.